Mustang Hills
Kananaskis Country Trail Guide
December 25, 2011

I've never given Mustang Hills a glance when I've driven past them in the summer, but as a quick winter escape they were looking attractive, even though it meant walking 3.5 km up Hwy. 66 to reach the trailhead because of the seasonal gate closure.

Dinah and I drove to the gate. After parking, we pushed passed people preparing to parade up Prairie Mountain. In contrast, there wasn't a soul on the icy highway ahead of us. After walking for nearly an hour, we came to a clearing on our left where we could see the bare north ridge of Mustang Hills. We dropped down to the ravine that separates the hills from the highway, and then started climbing. After gaining the ridge, we headed into the trees towards centre hill. We noticed numerous tracks in the snow as if wild horses had trampled through, which was in fact the case, but we didn't catch sight of the animals themselves.

When we reached the centre hill we were grateful to find it free of trees, affording us some good views. After looking around, we turned to the west hill. Even though it was treed, we felt behooved to reach it since it's the highest point on Mustang Hills. We picked up a blazed trail and followed it to the summit.

There was no reason to linger on the summit, so we headed back. When we got back to the open ridge we were surprised to see a horse 200 m away at the other end, facing us. But as I reached for my camera, it turned and fled into the woods. We were thrilled as it was the first time we had seen a wild horse.

As we walked back down the highway, we talked about returning to Mustang Hills in the winter, not only in hopes of photographing its wild horses, but to enjoy its solitude.

KML and GPX Tracks